Stalin

Bolsheviks in Charge: Stalin's Rule

• his opponents underetimated him
• he removed his opponents one at a time with others and then attacked those who had been his allies
• je was popular because he came from the peasent class

Stalin's View

• "we are 50 to 100 years behind the advanced countries. we must make good this lag in ten years. Eitherr we do it or they crush us."
• peasents were conservatiive and Stalin saw them as holding back progress
• imndustrial development could not occur without sufficient food production
• peasent labor force was to be redirected to industrial labor, and this was impossible without more efficient farming
• Stalin's answer was to collectivize farming
• carried out by force
• destroyed crops by froce
• peasents rebelled
• destroyed crops and animals
• the results of collectivization: th very short time the bulk of the peasants were organized on collective farms; the government gained through collectivization greater control over production and allocation; food was made availble for the Five year plans
• However, the immediate effect was a massive drop to production; collectivization had an enormous human cost. opposition was eliminated; the kulaks (the most able farmers) were virtually destroyed; it proved inefficient in the long run; not responsive to changes in local/regional needs

The Five-Year Plans for Industry

• Stalin introduced what he referred to as a system of cenyral planning

Bolsheviks in Charge

War Communism

• the class struggle of the rural areas reversing the reforms of the Duma of 1906
• purpose of War Communism was to take away from peasants and give it back to the kulaks
• forcing the kulaks to sell surplus grain to Bolsheviks at fixed prices
• there was nothing in Marxoist ideology that dealt with how to deal with Rural areas so Lenin had to invent it, he did not believe oin gradual change he wanted quick change
• MArxist ideology was for an urban setting - a setting that had already experienced the industrial Revolution
• already experienced the conflict between the bourgousie and the proletariat - as soon as the workers believed they could not have what they produced they would revolt
• Revolt was the creation of the battle between peasants and kulaks
• Results:
• attempted collectivization of land confiscation of grain by the state (kulaks and peasants helped each other)
• forced labor was introduced
• famine broke out aqnd people began to starve, Lenin switched over after famine broke out to NEP, he pulled th eplug on War Communism
• farmers were to contribute %10 of production to state and sell any surplus in openmarket for profit
• smal private businness allowed to operate, everyone bough tinto it because Lenin was intriducing it
• trade passe dinto orivate hands,l no longer in hands of governemtn; Lenin argued not a devioation to ultimate goal (eventhought it was true capitalism); Lenin's concession that capitailsm is needed before succesful Ware Communism
• very persuasive, everything Lenin said the Bolsheviks bought with little question
• created a new middle class
• the NEP moved opposite of the gooal of the communists but was necessary to avoid _______of chaos and the possibility of counter-revolution

NEP

• disagreement within the party concerning NEP were suppressed by Lenin but it was to reappear after his death
• Lenin grouped state-controlled industries together with orivate ______ it would then be easier to more form this to socialism
• food production increased
• industrial production increased

Final Days of Lenin

• Lenin's writing in 1922 and 1923 reveal a man, deeply troubled man by nature of state - he did not thinkhis gov was where it should be
• party bureaocrats stood above the proletariat and peasentry
• the Party bureacracy had developed into a dictatorship over, or at best, on behalf of the masses
• the higher ranking in the gov should be checke dby the lower ranking ones, the politburi should get checked so they become acountable for the interest of the proletariat, comittee never formed, Politburo never held accountable

{pwer Struggle

• March 1923, Lenin works on demoting Stalin
• Stalin, through political machine, successful in suppressing the publication of these Testament
• since Lenin had also criticizeed everyone so nobody weanted it publisjed becase all the leaders were criticized
• "regime of proffessional secretaries"said Tritsky about Stalin- bureaucrats cut5 off from their proleteriat followers
• using interest in spreading the revolution
• Trotsky seemed the most powerful and dangerous in Party to Stalin
• the most brilliant theoretician in the party, huge threat to Stalin, Lenin probably wanted him to succeede him eventhough he often opposed him but did not want Stalin because he was psycho
• leader of the vicorious Red ArmyBukharin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, and Stalin isolagted Trotsky
• accusied Trotsky of trying to split the Party because of his personal ambition to read it
• using "Party democracy" as a phony political issue
• "Socialism in One Country" was a real accessibility
• Trotsky's insistence on proletarian revolutions abroad betrayed a lack of faith in the party's and country's necessities
• Trotsky demoted after this battle and he was not exiled yet but his importance was minimized becasue he is so aggressive in his ideology; Trotsky took care if his enemy by discrediting him by letting Trotsky's mouth run wild
• Zimoniec and Kamenev spli off from the Party majority by launching a critique of NEP from the leftiist point of view
• NEP policy of conceding constantly increasing gtrain prices to the peasentry was depriving the state of capital for industrialization, bankrupting industry, confrnting the proletariat with high bread prices, and indefinitely postponing the march to socialism
  
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"First steps of the Soviet Regime" Reading - Monday January 25, 2010

Focus on policy for this document.

Insightful policy?

• many factions, everyone seemed to be united in a common cause then different governmets develop and fall
• freedom of press not allowed till Lenin put down opposition
• Lenin does not have majority but uses what he has to give him legitimacy, Lenin make sit look like he has support of rural people, if they don't agree with hi then he sets them up against eachother until they decide to go his way
• creation of policy to induce strong factions to trust him and ally with him to consolidate power, and at the same time he takes care of other opposition groups
• when Lenin dies there is another ower struggle
• 
  

• women were factory workers, housewives, had to stand in long linesa to buy food
• women's day is important because it gave recognition to role of woman, socialist party used it to send message of power of proletariat, power of women, power to impact policy; they got the women fired up so they were willing to walk out
• spontaneous

Afghan Article

This is the first blog for the readings we get in class so for this first one I did not really know how to format it so I just put questiona nd answer, sort of, and then I just stopped. :) If yoou can provide further analysis and/or comments then please feel free to do so.

Q: In terms of guerilla warfare what value does article have?

A: One of the thing you need for terrorism is the need for innovation. Since the women were in University and not married they were willing to take more risks to prepare fir their future. Women want to have policy change. What are gurilla movement trying to do? Overthrow current government or repel invaders. If women want to take any ownership in their society they can’t get married or have babies.

Q: What characterizes a geurilla fighter?

A: educated, organized. Against established government or repel foreign invaders, often communistic ideals

Q: What makes a terrorist?

A: uneducated, unorganised